Dr Thomas Pugh

Dr Thomas Pugh

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Reader in Biosphere-Atmosphere Exchange

Contact details

Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Tom Pugh is a scientist interested in interactions and feedbacks between the terrestrial biosphere and the global climate system, which he primarily investigates using computer models and big data synthesis. Read more about Tom's research at bioatmo.wordpress.com.

Qualifications

  • BSc (Hons) Environmental Science
  • PhD Environmental Science

Biography

Tom completed a PhD at Lancaster University studying the effects of tropical rainforests and oil palm plantations on tropospheric chemistry. He then carried out a postdoc at Lancaster investigating the interactions between plants and urban air pollution, before moving to IMK-IFU in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where he broadened his horizons to work with global vegetation and climate models on questions of land-use change, forest mortality and food security. In 2016 he took up the position of Lecturer in GEES at Birmingham, where his work is closely linked with the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR). In 2018 he became Reader in Biosphere-Atmosphere Exchange at the University of Birmingham. In 2020 he took up a new position at Lund University in Sweden and currently splits his time between Lund and Birmingham.

Postgraduate supervision

Tom Pugh welcomes enquiries from students with interests in the interaction between terrestrial vegetation, biogeochemical cycles and climate. Please contact him if you are interested in working with him on the following core topics, or more generally within this theme.

> Interactions and feedbacks between climate change and forest mortality.
> CO2 fertilisation of vegetation and the global terrestrial carbon sink.
> Effects of biotic agents on forest vitality and biogeochemical cycling.
> How anthropogenic actions modify the structure and function of our forests.

Research

Tom Pugh is a scientist interested in interactions and feedbacks between the terrestrial biosphere and the global climate system, which he primarily investigates using computer models and big data synthesis. Read more about Tom's research at bioatmo.wordpress.com.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Edelmann, P, Rammer, W, Pugh, TAM, Gustafson, A, Seibold, S, Weisser, WW, Müller, J & Seidl, R 2026, 'Climate change accelerates global forest deadwood dynamics', Communications Earth and Environment, vol. 7, 453. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03651-4

Nabuurs, GJ, Maximo, YI, Starcevic, A, Patacca, M, Filipek, S, Schulte, M, Lerink, BJ, Bozzolan, N, Suvanto, S, Pugh, TAM, Govaere, L, Thibaut, A, Cavlović, J, Nord-Larsen, T, Kvist-Johannsen, V, Brownell, H, Wurpillot, S, Dassot, M, Redmond, J, McCullagh, A, Corona, P, Kugener, G, Astrup, R, Breidenbach, J, Talarczyk, A, Neroj, B, Seben, V, Alberdi, I, Fridman, J, Thürig, E, Rohner, B, Esquivel-Muelbert, A, König, L, Freudenschuss, A, Gschwanter, T, Berger, A, Korhonen, K, Teeuwen, S, Hassegawa, M, Cienciala, E, Munoz-Aviles, R, Chirici, G, Verkerk, PJ & Schelhaas, MJ 2026, 'Contemporary high resolution European forest structure assessed using tree-level National Forest Inventory data', PLOS One, vol. 21, no. 6, e0346611. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0346611

Stoebke, JE, Wårlind, D, Olin, S, Eckes-Shephard, A, Brzeziecki, B, Peltoniemi, M & Pugh, TAM 2026, 'Representing canopy structure dynamics within the LPJ-GUESS dynamic global vegetation model (revision 13221)', Geoscientific Model Development, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 3595-3615. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-3595-2026

Lagergren, F, Jönsson, AM, Lindeskog, M & Pugh, TAM 2025, 'Combining empirical and mechanistic understanding of spruce bark beetle outbreak dynamics in the LPJ-GUESS (v4.1, r13130) vegetation model', Geoscientific Model Development, vol. 18, no. 21, pp. 8071-8090. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-8071-2025

König, LA, Pugh, TAM & Suvanto, S 2025, 'Combining national forest inventories reveals distinct role of climate on tree recruitment in European forests', Ecological Modelling, vol. 505, 111112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2025.111112

Eckes‐Shephard, AH, Argles, APK, Brzeziecki, B, Cox, PM, De Kauwe, MG, Esquivel‐Muelbert, A, Fisher, RA, Hurtt, GC, Knauer, J, Koven, CD, Lehtonen, A, Luyssaert, S, Marqués, L, Ma, L, Marie, G, Moore, JR, Needham, JF, Olin, S, Peltoniemi, M, Piltz, K, Sato, H, Sitch, S, Stocker, BD, Weng, E, Zuleta, D & Pugh, TAM 2025, 'Demography, dynamics and data: building confidence for simulating changes in the world's forests', New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70643

Layritz, LS, Gregor, K, Krause, A, Kruse, S, Meyer, BF, Pugh, TAM & Rammig, A 2025, 'Disentangling future effects of climate change and forest disturbance on vegetation composition and land surface properties of the boreal forest', Biogeosciences, vol. 22, no. 14, pp. 3635-3660. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-3635-2025

Bordin, KM, Bauman, D, Pugh, TAM, Müller, SC, Phillips, OL, Fortunel, C, Needham, JF, Woodall, CW, Astigarraga, J, Schietti, J, Liu, D, Bialic‐Murphy, L & Esquivel‐Muelbert, A 2025, 'Growth–survival trade‐off in temperate trees is weak and restricted to late‐successional stages', Journal of Ecology, vol. 113, no. 11, pp. 3466-3477. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.70175

Asuk, SA, Wayman, JP, Sadler, JP, Pugh, TAM, Matthews, TJ, Ebu, VT, Phillips, OL, Lewis, S, Sonké, B, Talbot, J, Comiskey, J, Zemagho, L, Ojo, L, Begne, S, Taedoumg, H, Sunderland, T, Hubau, W, Droissart, V, Qie, L, Gilpin, M, Simo-Droissart, M, Feldpausch, T, Peh, KSH, Banin, LF, Kamdem, MND & Kettridge, N 2025, 'Human and Environmental Factors Shape Tree Species Assemblages in West African Tropical Forests', Diversity and Distributions, vol. 31, no. 8, e70075. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.70075

Acil, N, Sadler, JP, Senf, C, Suvanto, S & Pugh, TAM 2025, 'Landscape patterns in stand-replacing disturbances across the world’s forests', Nature Sustainability, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 86-98. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01450-3

Robinson, N, Drever, CR, Gibbs, DA, Lister, K, Esquivel-Muelbert, A, Heinrich, V, Ciais, P, Silva-Junior, CHL, Liu, Z, Pugh, TAM, Saatchi, S, Xu, Y & Cook-Patton, SC 2025, 'Protect young secondary forests for optimum carbon removal', Nature Climate Change, vol. 15, no. 7, pp. 793-800. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02355-5

Ferretto, A, Anthoni, P, Pugh, TAM, Gregor, K, Thurner, M, Natel, C, Wårlind, D, Lindeskog, M, Arneth, A & Zang, R (ed.) 2025, 'The impact of changing forest composition in Europe - longest carbon turnover time in unmanaged and broadleaved deciduous forests', PLOS One, vol. 20, no. 10, e0334118. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0334118

International Tree Mortality Network, Senf, C, Esquivel-Muelbert, A, Pugh, TAM & Suvanto, S 2025, 'Towards a global understanding of tree mortality', New Phytologist, vol. 245, no. 6, pp. 2377-2392. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20407

Suvanto, S, Esquivel Muelbert, A, Schelhaas, MJ, Astigarraga, J, Astrup, R, Cienciala, E, Fridman, J, Henttonen, HM, Kunstler, G, Kändler, G, König, LA, Ruiz‐Benito, P, Senf, C, Stadelmann, G, Starcevic, A, Talarczyk, A, Zavala, MA & Pugh, TAM 2025, 'Understanding Europe's Forest Harvesting Regimes', Earth's Future, vol. 13, no. 2, e2024EF005225. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ef005225

Review article

Liu, D, Zhang, C, Ogaya, R, Acil, N, Pugh, TAM, Domene, X, Zhang, X, Fang, Y, Yang, X, Essl, F, Dullinger, S & Peñuelas, J 2025, 'World-wide impacts of climate change and nitrogen deposition on vegetation structure, composition, and functioning of shrublands', New Phytologist, vol. 247, no. 3, pp. 1117-1128. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70235

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

vegetation-climate interactions; terrestrial carbon cycle; tree mortality; climate impacts on forests/agriculture; carbon storage in ecosystems